SCHAKOWSKY JOINS DEMOCRATS ON CALLING ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO CEASE AND DESIST DECEPTIVE MEDICARE CAMPAIGN

FEBRUARY 11, 2004SCHAKOWSKY JOINS DEMOCRATS ON CALLING ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO CEASE AND DESIST DECEPTIVE MEDICARE CAMPAIGN

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today called on the Bush Administration to cease and desist its taxpayer-funded deceptive advertising campaign that distorts the truth and eliminates critical facts about the Medicare prescription drug law.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Schakowsky joined Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and House colleagues to demand an immediate halt of the campaign at least until the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) receives answers to questions GAO submitted to the Bush Administration.

GAO is examining allegations that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) misappropriated federal funds by launching an advertising campaign to "rebut criticism of the new Medicare law." The GAO requested a response by HHS no later than February 23, 2004.

Below is Schakowsky's statement:

"Thank you, Senators Lautenberg, Kennedy and Clinton for your leadership and for your commitment to our nation's seniors. I am also pleased to be here with my House colleague, Congressman Pallone, to call on the Bush Administration to cease and desist its cynical media campaign until GAO gets answers. The American taxpayers are entitled to know if the Bush Administration's $22 million PR offensive is illegal.
"Even in their wildest imaginations, seniors and taxpayers never realized that they would be funding a media campaign to sell a plan that will privatize Medicare and bring drug companies $140 billion in windfall profits. And it is not just about the money, it's about the timing. It looks to me that the timing of this ad campaign has much more to do with an election in November than it does with educating and informing seniors about the reality of this new law and what it is going to mean to them.

"We want the GAO investigation to proceed forward. We want to know if laws were violated. But it certainly raises red flags when you have the federal government, with taxpayer dollars, paying for an ad campaign by the very same people who are working for President Bush's reelection campaign. To me, that is a smoking gun and a clear case of collusion between the Bush Administration and special interests.
"The worst part of this deceptive campaign is that it is going after senior citizens who count on prescription drugs day in and day out to extend, enhance and perhaps save their lives. It is telling them: "It is the same Medicare you have always counted on, plus more benefits, like prescription drug coverage." The most generous thing we can say about the ad is that it is certainly not the full story and, for many seniors, simply not true.

"Take for example when a paid actor who plays a senior on TV asks: "Will I save on my medicines?'' And the announcer says, ''You can save with your Medicare discount drug cards this June and save more with new prescription drug coverage in 2006." Many seniors already have one or more prescription drug cards. But under this new plan, they are only going to be allowed one Medicare discount card and they will have to pay for that card, which may not even provide all the medicines that they need.

"The ad is misleading because seniors are led to believe that all of their medicines are going to be covered. As we all know, all medicines may not be covered and others may be dropped from the plan. It is shameful that the seniors are actually paying for this ad that gives a false picture of their Medicare, which they love and they want to know the truth about.
"This is a full media branding operation of the new Medicare law that is false at best and criminal at worst. But at the end of the day, I put my faith in the senior citizens of this country. Seniors will know that this campaign is a sham and a scam.

"It is shameful that the Bush White House sees the rest of the government as an extension of its political operation and reelection campaign. Thirty second spots, paid for by American taxpayers, are running across the country. The Bush Administration has hired a Republican ad firm to lie about the Medicare drug law and spent millions of dollars on glitzy flyers and propaganda that doesn't even pass the laugh test. They even hired actors to play seniors on TV. That's because no senior I know would put his or her stamp of approval on the Republican Medicare drug law.

"Seniors are not shy about telling you what they really think. And they think that this Medicare drug law was bought and paid for by the drug companies. No matter how many ads, flyers or brochures are printed by the Bush Administration, seniors will not be fooled."